In recent decades, drought-driven tree mortality has become widespread, particularly in Mediterranean ecosystems (Lemus-Canovas et al., 2024), where prolonged drought accelerates forest-to-shrubland transitions (Coughlan de Perez et al., 2022). Detecting early-warning signals of tree decline is therefore essential for anticipating ecosystem changes and guiding conservation.
We investigated massive 2023 mortality event in Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis) at the Garraf Massif (NE Iberian Peninsula).
This episode of drought-driven tree mortality from 2023 was reported in the Catalan news. Despite the rains of recent months, the effects of the drought remain visible.
Climatic data were obtained from the meteorological station at El Prat Airport, which has recorded weather variables since 1950 (Prohom et al., 2023). These are the trends of temperature and precipitation for the period 1950-2022.
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## Els següents objectes estan emmascarats des de 'package:stats':
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## Els següents objectes estan emmascarats des de 'package:base':
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## Min. : 4.0 Min. : 2.00
## 1st Qu.:12.0 1st Qu.: 26.00
## Median :15.0 Median : 36.00
## Mean :15.4 Mean : 42.98
## 3rd Qu.:19.0 3rd Qu.: 56.00
## Max. :25.0 Max. :120.00
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